


Greedy

by ierodorable704



Category: IASIP, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Genre: M/M, The Golden God, bad men in love, iasip - Freeform, queer catholic angst, religious angst, ronnie the rat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-03
Updated: 2018-11-03
Packaged: 2019-08-16 22:51:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,384
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16504298
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ierodorable704/pseuds/ierodorable704
Summary: Three times in his life when Dennis wasn't a selfish asshole, at least toward Mac anyway. Or, how Dennis helps Mac get through his guilt.





	Greedy

There were only three time in his life when Dennis Reynolds hadn’t been completely self; at least toward Mac, anyway.

The first time was in the 11th grade, Mac was in Charlie’s basement, smoking weed while his dumbass friend was out looking for trolls or some shit. He was really getting there, already on his third bowl when Dennis walked in, grinning fiercely.

“Guess what daddy just brought home,” he yelled, laughing as Mac cringed. 

“Jesus Christ dude,” he mumbled, running his hands down his face. “Don’t fucking call yourself daddy.” The other boy’s grin only grew wider, and Mac realized the only way to end it was to take the bait. “What do you have Dennis?”

“Oh man, I thought you’d never ask.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a key. “Tah dah!” 

Mac was beginning to feel warm, being high in the same room as Dennis always did this to him. He saw the key, but it didn’t really matter because Dennis was practically glowing and he always treated Mac better when he was happy. “That’s awesome man! What kind of car did you get?”

Tucking the key back in his pocket, he shrugged. “Frank got me a brand new Jeep Grand Cherokee V8. Got him to give me an extra thousand, too, so for a while, shit’s on me.” Mac was sweating, and the smile must have left his face because suddenly Dennis was sitting next to him on the Kelly’s dirty couch. “What’s up with you?” he asked, eyebrows furrowing. “Did you get some bad weed? What the hell is wrong with you? This is big news. Where’s Charlie, he’ll be excited.” 

It was too much, Mac was losing happy Dennis but it was just so damn hot. “Yeah, sorry man. I’m stoked, just a bad batch.” He forced the smile back onto his face, but Dennis shook his head. 

“Nah, that’s not it. You got a bad batch you’d still be smoking that shit.” Goddamn Dennis. Maybe he was a god like he so often claimed to be, because he seemed to know everything.

“I-it’s just…” he stammered, trying to form full sentences, but his brain was overheating so he started crying instead. “Sorry man,” Mac tried to play it off. “This shit is making me feel really weird.” 

Dennis sighed, putting an arm around Mac’s shoulders. “If you don’t want to talk about it that’s fine,” he said, his voice steady, “but don’t fucking lie to me.” Mac felt himself sinking into Dennis, his crying turning into sobs. As he shook and cried, Dennis was kind enough not to say anything. 

After a few minutes Mac let up, wiping the tears from his face. “It’s just, you’re so lucky, you have the money to do anything you want and you’ll probably go to college- no, I know you’ll go to college because you’re Dennis fucking Reynolds, and you’re rich and lucky and you have your whole life ahead of you, a good life, but I’m Ronnie the goddamn rat and I won’t be able to do any of that shit. Me and Charlie are going to be in this basement getting high for at least another 20 years, why do you even bother wasting your time with me- us. I mean us. We have nothing. We are nothing.” 

Dennis laughed and Mac felt like he’d been stabbed in the gut. “Wow, thanks asshole,” he muttered, pulling away from the other boy, his face now flushed from embarrassment. 

Dennis frowned. “No, hey, I didn’t mean it like.. I wasn’t making fun…” 

“Whatever dude, weak moment. Blame the weed.” He reached over Dennis, refusing to even look at him as he grabbed his pipe. When he picked it up, Dennis snatched it away and put it back down on the table just out of his reach.

“Come on, man,” Mac whined, reaching out for the pipe again, but Dennis shook his head. “Hey, listen to me dude, you got it all wrong.” Mac leaned back again, finally making eye contact with him. 

“Look, man,” Dennis said, pulling Mac closer until their foreheads rested against each other and his hand cradled the back of his neck. Mac knew Dennis saw him gulp, felt him shaking beneath his fingers, and he knew Dennis loved having this effect on him. 

“You’re not nothing,” he whispered, his breath falling on Mac’s lips almost too much to handle. “You’re my best fucking friend, Mac. We’re blood brothers, remember? You’re my fucking brother, everything I have is yours. All that shit Frank gives me, all the money I squeeze from that bastard is yours, too, baby. Does not god provide all?”

Mac laughed, a few leftover tears rolling down his cheek. “That’s blasphemy Dennis! God is going to strike you down!” 

Dennis rolled his eyes playfully. “Firstly, i’m still not convinced that I myself am not god. Secondly,” he paused, eyes soft as they gazed into Mac’s.

“What?” he asked. “What’s the secon-” He was cut off as Dennis pressed his lips softly against Mac’s. He lingered only a second or two before pulling away, smirking. 

“That’s what I thought. The second point is if god were to strike me down for anything, it would be that. But I’m still here, so I’d say it’s safe to assume we’re okay.” 

Mac’s mouth fell open, eyes wide, scared to even move. Dennis just grinned at him and Mac couldn’t even talk, his brain too scrambled to communicate with the rest of his body. He wanted to jump off the couch and scream at Dennis. He wanted to pull him in and kiss him again. He ✳️✳️✳️✳️wanted to play it off as a joke and never think about it again. He wanted to pray and beg god for forgiveness. But he was frozen, and only Charlie bursting through the door could break the trance. 

“Heyo, just found like four ghouls, dude. Oh, hey, Dennis, when’d you get here?” 

Standing up and once again reaching into his pocket, Dennis played nonchalant as he responded. “A few minutes ago. Just came to show you and Mac my new ride.” He dangled the key between his thumb and his index finger and Charlie’s eyes immediately grew wide.

“Oh shit, dude, oh shit. The crew is now on wheels!” He exclaimed and dragged his younger friends out to the driveway.

They spent the rest of the day driving around in circles, never talking about what happened in the basement. 

✳️✳️✳️✳️✳️✳️✳️✳

The second time was on Dennis’ 21 birthday. Though they had all been drinking for many years before the legal age, Dennis decided it was a pivotal moment in life and they had to follow all stereotypes of partying harder and acting dumber than on any other night.

It only took an hour for them to be kicked out of the first bar, where Mac attempted to fight a man who called him a fag, but they refused to lose the partying spirit. The second club was a little better. They were all on the verge of a brown out, and when offered a little oxi with their drinks, they thought it would be rude not to accept. From there it only took 20 minutes for them to get kicked out, this time because Charlie was biting people as he crawled around the floor in an attempt to play ‘Nightcrawlers 2.0.’

“Man, fuck all these bars. They got way too many goddamn rules,” Dennis whined as they stumbled across the worn sidewalk on their way home.

Mac nodded, throwing an arm around Dennis in an attempt to steady himself. “We need a place where we can just do whatever the hell we want.” Charlie hiccuped in what the others assumed to be agreement, because he then added himself to their chain by wrapping an arm around Mac. 

“Let’s buy our own bar, guys,” Dennis said, and Mac and Charlie nodded. They walked in silence for a while, still linked together, and Mac felt a little proud that anyone walking by would recognize them as best friends. 

When they reached their apartment building, Mac’s head clearing enough to mumble, “You can stay here, Charlie.” The older man merely nodded and then, with eyes half closed, he wandered over to the backside of the building. “You think he’s gonna sleep in the dumpster?” Mac asked, and Dennis nodded. 

“He’s definitely gonna sleep in the dumpster.” 

Pressing the button for the elevator, Mac asked, “Do you think we should get him?” 

Dennis almost tripped over the carpet when the doors opened, but he recovered and responded with, “I genuinely believe that he would like it more in that dumpster than on our couch. Kid’s fuckin crazy.” Mac nodded, and they rode up to their floor in silence. After stumbling down the hall and dropping the keys a few times, they stood in their shared apartment, exhausted. 

“G’night,” Dennis muttered and turned toward his room, but Mac grabbed his wrist.

“Wait,” he whispered, and when Dennis actually turned around he was beyond terrified. They stood there in the dark, Mac holding Dennis’ wrist until he finally mustered up the courage to speak. “That guy at the bar, he called me- you know…” But Dennis made no acknowledgement of anything he said. He wanted Mac’s face to burn, he wanted him to suffer. “He called me a fag, Dennis. And I… Well I was just wondering… Do you think god would hate me if I was? I’m not- I’m totally into chics, but if I was…?”

Dennis pulled his wrist away and Mac squeezed his eyes shut, unable to watch what he assumed was the shadow of his best friend walking away. Instead, he felt Dennis’ arms wrapped around his waist and he opened his eyes to find Dennis’ face only inches from his own. Remembering what had happened last time they were this close, he screamed at himself to back up, pull away, run, anything. But of course he didn’t.

“Fuck what god thinks. You know what I think? I think you’re trying really hard to be something you’re not and it’s making you miserable. You don’t have to be what god or your dad or anyone else wants you to be. I think you’re fine just the way you are- hell, I think you’re better than fine. So don’t worry about it.”

Thinking back, it was unclear who finally closed the distance between them. However it happened, they were kissing, hard and demanding, and when Dennis shoved his tongue into Mac’s mouth, he couldn’t even think to resist. They refuse to break the rough, drunken makeout even as they backed up toward the couch. When it hit the back of his knees, Dennis allowed himself to be pushed down as Mac situated himself above him.

Straddling him, Mac began to pump his hips down into Dennis as his mouth eagerly returned to the other man’s. They continued this, rutting awkwardly and needely, and Mac found that Dennis was partial to biting. Everytime teeth made contact with his neck and nails were raked across his back, he gasped and bucked even harder into Dennis.

They both came way too early, not even getting their pants off like they were teenage virgins again. Dennis sat up under Mac and placed soft kisses on all the bite marks he left on his neck before shoving him off. He stood up and cradled Mac’s face in his hands, placed a gentle kiss on his lips, and then walked away. 

“Happy Birthday, Dennis,” he whispered into the dark, but if Dennis heard him, he didn’t answer. 

The next morning he woke up with a killer headache and assorted memories of the night before. His ears burned red at the thought of the words they had exchanged before they… they had kissed. Again. More than kissed this time. It wasn’t a one time thing now; they weren’t teenagers fucking around in a basement anymore. 

Mac immediately jumped out of bed, fell to his knees, and began to pray. He did eight Hail Marys and Lord’s Prayer for good measure, taking the pounding in his head as due punishment from god. 

When he finished, he walked into the kitchen expecting World War III, but Dennis didn’t even bring it up. Mac thanked god for second chances that come in the form of Dennis being blackout drunk. 

✳️✳️✳️✳️✳️✳️✳️✳

Mac tells himself he won’t allow it to happen again, but even he knows he’s lying. It didn’t take long to figure out that once Dennis got drunk, if Mac could rush him home before the “golden god” set his sights on a woman, he would practically devour Mac. Of course afterwards Mac would blame the alcohol and attempt to pray away all the ways he had allowed Dennis to touch him, hoping god didn’t notice the part of his prayer that wished nights like that happened more often. The next morning Dennis would never acknowledge what had happened, and it felt too easy, like they could have been doing it all along. 

It wasn’t until one day, a day Mac would later consider the third time Dennis Reynolds had been uncharacteristically unselfish that things changed. They had spent the day working on Lethal Weapon 7 with Charlie until he left to do something or other for the waitress. Because Riggs and Murtaugh were in most scenes together, they had no camera man, so they just went back to the apartment. 

Mac had settled onto the couch and grabbed the remote when Dennis decided to stand right in front of him, blocking his view of the t.v.

“Come on, dude,” Mac whined. “I wanna watch a movie.” instead, Dennis simply leaned over and kissed him.

Mac responded immediately, reaching up and fisting his hands in the other man’s hair as Dennis’ fingers lightly trailed his jaw. He allowed himself to sink into the kiss, enjoy it, even, until Dennis pinned him down to the couch, straddling his hips. Realizing what he wanted, Mac pushed him off of his lap and jumped up. 

“What the hell?” he yelled, his face already a deep shade of red. 

Dennis sighed. “You know damn well what that was, Mac. and we both know you wanted it.” 

Mac took a step back, shaking his head. “No, I didn’t… I’m not gay, Dennis. You just surprised me.” As the words left his mouth he knew they sounded empty and desperate, and from the look of disgust on Dennis’ face, he could tell he knew it, too.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Dennis exploded, advancing toward Mac. “You can’t honestly believe that anyone in the world still thinks you’re straight. I’ve heard you have sex with chics, dude, and it’s nothing like when you fuck me.” Mac’s eyes widened at the confession, realizing he had remembered all those times, and the look on Dennis’ face just confirmed it. “What? You think I don’t remember? You honestly think you were smart enough to get me wasted and then home alone with you so you could bang me and I’d never know? Well guess what- I remember. We’ve fucked again and again and again and I remember every time. I remember the click of your Rosary beads in the middle of the night when you get out of my bed and try to pray the memory of me away. I remember every morning that I have to pretend that we didn’t have sex and nothing changed. I’m sick and fucking tired of all the playing, so tell me now if you’re still lying to yourself, you’re just a horny bastard, or you really do regret everything.” 

He had no idea how to answer; he’d been asking himself the same things for almost 30 years and he still had no goddamn clue. The truth fell somewhere in a gray area that was at the same time none of Dennis’ options and all of them. He had to lie to himself to fight the urges and thoughts he got sometimes, but that was just training his mind to be more godly. He was pretty horny, but only because he was never really satisfied after sex with women, but he figured he just wasn’t that good at it and he had to do it more to get better. As for regret, he felt none in a physical sense- if he allowed himself, he would have sex with Dennis everyday and still want more- but spiritually he was terrified of the hellfire that licked at his heels every time he so much as looked at Dennis lustfully. 

Mac began to feel attacked, so as Dennis stared at him bitterly, he became incredibly angry. Every second that passed infuriated him more, and in Dennis’ eyes he thought he saw some kind of resentment. Feeling betrayed, he lashed out, throwing himself at the other man and punching him in the face. Dennis rocked back, bringing a hand to his mouth and pulling it away with traces of blood from a freshly split lip. “I can’t be a faggot, Dennis,” Mac spat.

Dennis’ face softened a bit, and for a second he thought he might not actually hit him back, but of course he did. You could never hit Dennis Reynolds and expect no repercussion. The blow hit Mac squarely in the nose, and he didn’t even need to check to know that blood was flowing freely down his face. 

Unclenching his fist and shaking his hand out, Dennis replaced the resentment on his face with concern as he stepped toward Mac. He stiffened as Dennis wrapped his arms around him, pulling Mac into his chest, completely ignoring the blood that dripped onto his shirt. Mac wanted to say something, wanted to explain that sin was always enticing until it was time for consequences, but his mouth couldn’t form the words. 

“I know you think that god personally hates you if you’re gay, but that’s just not true,” Dennis whispered. “God is, in his purest form, love. Unconditional, undeserved love that cannot be earned but is given willingly. Nothing you can do can make him stop loving you, especially not showing love to others, regardless their gender.” 

Mac’s whole life had been a battle of thoughts vs action and denial, and Dennis managed to tear that down in a single sweep. 

“How… how did you know all that?” Mac asked, attempting to keep his voice from trembling.

“Been reading the bible a little bit,” Dennis answered, as though it meant nothing, but Mac almost cried at the confession. “I know how much it means to you and how much you beat yourself up over it. I figured it could get you to stop dicking around with the straight shit.” 

To anyone else it would have sounded like an insult, but Mac understood Dennis talk. Dennis had read the bible for him and Dennis had learned about the character of god for him, the same Dennis Reynolds who believed he was himself a god. It was all too much and Mac couldn’t think of anything else to do but press his lips against Dennis’ again, more confident than ever to make the first move sober. 

They end up in Mac’s room this time, in the bed right under the painting of the Blessed Mother, but Mac can’t even think to pray in shame when he’s inside Dennis. He’s less clumsy and submissive, he greedily takes what he wants without the guilt to hold him back, and Dennis has the bruises to prove it. When they both finish, Dennis lit a cigarette and they passed it back and forth as their heart rates steadied. After almost ten minutes of warm, comfortable silence, mac spoke up. 

“Hey Dennis,” he whispered into the dark.

“Hmmm?” the other man mumbled back. 

“I’m gay,” Mac said, and it felt so strange to say the words out loud, something so foreign and completely reassuring.

“Well no shit, Mac,” Dennis chuckled, turning on his side to face him. 

“And that’s… ok?” he asked, cautiously putting an arm around Dennis. 

Pulling Mac closer, he smiled and whispered, “Yeah Mac, that’s ok.”


End file.
